Analysis Of Prince Prospero And The Red Death

In the short story, “Masque of the Red Death”, Edgar Allen Poe uses characterization to illustrate the psychological destruction of the Prince. Throughout the story, Prince Prospero struggles with

In “Mask of the Red Death”, Edgar Allan Poe uses setting and symbolism to deliver the theme that no one escapes death. The story follows the naïve and pompous Prince Prospero, and his feeble attempt to escape dying from the Black Plague. As the plague spread through his kingdom, the prince called one thousand of his closest friends to reside within the safety of the castle in order to seclude themselves from the horror and death going on outside. During the last months of their seclusion, the prince decided to hold a masquerade ball in order to amuse his many guests living within the confines of the rather odd castle. The dance takes place in a variety of unusual apartments within the castle, spaced apart so the guests would only see one room at a time. The apartments flowed east to west, each decorated in a different color and theme while following a pattern of blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet and finally ending in black. During the ball, guests enjoyed a dreamlike atmosphere as they danced through the many colored apartments, each of them avoiding the final black room. This final dark patterned room contained a large ebony clock which chimed eerily every hour, causing the party goers to pause their merriment for a few moments of uneasy silence. As midnight drew near, a new guest arrived, sporting a costume more ghastly and morose than any other. The mask he wore resembled that of a plague victim, and his clothes resembled a funeral shroud. Prospero became angry

As a horrible plague (the “Red Death”) devoured any one who stepped foot in its path, “Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless, and sagacious.” (Baym 2007) Prince Prospero invited one-thousand knights, dames, and the pecunious people to stay in his castle to escape the “Red Death”. This left the

Edgar Allen Poe’s chilling short story Mask of the Red Death begins with people dropping like flies, as the king of the land decides to take his close friends with him to live in one of his palaces. leaving his subjects to survive on their own. A puzzling creature known as the Red Death has been terrorizing and killing off people one by one, and no one has a way to stop it. Through characterization of both Prospero and the Red Death, Poe foreshadows Prospero’s eventual death in the end of the story.

To begin with, the Prince and his guests act like a disease in a body by trying to escape death. They try to escape death ithemselves up and away from the Red Death. In the text it says, ‘ “ The courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts.” ’ They try to escape death but all of a sudden everyone dies ecause it’s bound to happen. In the text it says, ‘ “And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood- bedewers halls of their revels and died in the despairing posture of his fall.” ’ They try to escape the Red Death just like a disease to escape going away by trying to take over their host which is the human’s body their affecting by trying to fight off the medication or if they happen to take over their host then the

inevitability of death and the futility of trying to escape death. The prince's name, Prospero,

Edgar Allen Poe's “The Masque of the Red Death” is an extravagant allegory of the futility of trying to escape death. In the story, a prince named Prospero tries to avoid the Red Death through isolation and seclusion. He hides behind the impenetrable walls of his castle and turns his back on the rest of the world. But no walls can stop death because it is unavoidable and inevitable. Through the use of character, setting, point of view, and symbol, Poe reveals the theme that no one, regardless of status, wealth or power can stay the passing of time and the inevitable conclusion of life itself, death.

To illustrate his idea that Death cannot be evaded, Poe revolves the entire story around Prince Prospero, who Poe describes as a “...happy and dauntless and sagacious” person (Poe 431). This assertion by Poe leads readers to believe that Prospero is a sensible and lively person, which is further

Prospero promotes both the mutual affections of Ferdinand and Miranda and the two regicidal conspiracies (Antonio's and Caliban's). Through the establishment of the graver conspiracy, and through the overwhelmingly magical nature of the island, he drives Alonso into a state of confusion

Shortly after their discovery each and every invited wealthy guest fell to their untimely death from becoming infected by the “red death”. Now the reason why the wealthy thousand died was because the “Red Death” infiltrated the whole castle by the unwelcomed guest that appeared earlier in the short story, in the end darkness, decay and the red death have at last triumphed. In conclusion death knows no difference between the wealthy persons and the less fortunate people to death we are all the same, when your time comes you cannot escape death by running, hiding, or confining yourself and your friends in a castle guarded by tall walls and iron gates

Prince Prospero does not care for the outside world and leaves them to die at the plague’s hands. Poe details Prince Prospero’s response to the plague with, “When his dominions were half-depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.” (Poe) Prince Prospero makes no effort to aid his people, instead, isolating himself and his friends to seek protection from the disease. Isolation plays a powerful role here in providing a means of protection that ultimately proves false when the Red Death itself comes into the abbey and all succumb to it. Isolation also serves to prove the failings of self-importance in that no one is above one another. In attempting to shield only themselves, those in the court exhibited a selfish importance that isolation fails to corroborate. Even isolating themselves, Prince Prospero and his courtiers fall victim to the Red Death the same as the rest of the world. As a theme in “The Masque of the Red Death”, isolation does not equate protection and to seek it with a self-important worldview is to bring destruction to yourself. In seeking isolated protection, Prince Prospero is thus exposed in his cowardice and is proven as equal to those dying outside the walls, for he falls victim to the Red Death as well.

the Red Death shows the futile attempts by a prince and his guests of a party,

Poe uses allegory to allude to the double meanings of the characters Prince Prospero and the masked figure, as well as the setting of the chambers. Prince Prospero represents prosperity. While his nation is suffering from the “Red Death”, “…he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and lighthearted friends…and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbey” (420). His nobility and wealth give him the ability to ignore the horror around him and live in luxury. This refers to real life in that the privileged are the ones who are able to still live comfortably even if others are in a crisis. Prince Prospero also represents an ignorance, selfishness, and arrogance that come with wealth through right instead of hard work. He believes that “[t]he external world could take care of itself” and that it is “…folly to grieve, or to think” (420). Instead of taking action to help his people, he just leaves them in the grips of the “Red Death”. The “Red Death” is

As a gothic writer, Edgar Allan Poe created horror using gloom as his weapon. Hidden within the suspenseful story of “The Masque of Red Death” is an allegorical tale of how individuals deal with the fear of death as time passes. Frantic activities and pleasures (as represented by Prince Prospero and his guests) seek to wall out the threat of death. However, the story reminds the reader that death comes “like a thief in the night”(Poe 3), and even those who seek peace and safety shall not escape. Poe uses symbolism to illustrate that man cannot hide from his own mortality.

At first glance it seems as if Prince Prospero is doing the few others hidden in an abbey alongside himself where he has had the doors welded shut a favor. It looks like he’s trying to prevent them from death. This is no doubt for safety, but it’s also peculiar because it looks as though he is trying to prevent anyone from getting out, not just from getting in. This plot fact gives the story a very threatening atmosphere surrounding the abbey, but it also gives it a sort of power. Since no one can get in, Red Death seemingly can’t reach them. Prince Prospero is also a very uneasy or insane character and these people aren’t just locked up in any abbey with just anyone, they are locked up with the mad Prospero. Months after being locked up, Prince Prospero decides to do something fun and uplifting for the people who are surrounded by a kingdom overcome by death. It seems as though Prince Prospero is trying to lighten the mood for a fun night where he has a